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A world football boss has broken rank to claim FIFA is awarding World Cups – including to Saudi Arabia – without a transparent process.

Lise Klaveness is the first football federation chief to go public with concerns about the rapid, short-circuit process that effectively decided the 2030 and 2034 hosts in secret meetings led by FIFA President Gianni Infantino.

“It has not been a transparent process,” Ms Klaveness, the Norwegian football federation president, told Sky News.

“We have to expect good governance,” she added. “We had big, big, huge reforms in FIFA several years ago, which were good on paper, but it needs to be implemented and I cannot see how that has happened.”

Ms Klaveness also said she was “very concerned” that FIFA is not taking women’s football seriously enough, given a World Cup host for 2027 is yet to be confirmed.

The overall process appears at odds with the transformation of world football’s decision-making promised by Mr Infantino after replacing the discredited Sepp Blatter in 2016.

The 211 football nations should have had the final say on World Cup hosts – but last month, the closed FIFA Council suddenly produced an unprecedented plan to combine rival bids for a 2030 tournament in six countries on three continents.

And they formed a curtailed, favourable process that blocked most of the world from bidding – paving the way for the Saudi Arabia to be unchallenged for 2034.

“When decisions are made in closed rooms, it’s the opposite of what the reforms were promising us,” Ms Klaveness said.

The decision came after Mr Infantino prioritised trips to Saudi Arabia over most other nations in the last three years – regularly meeting Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and even appearing in a government promotional video advertising the virtues of the oil-rich nation.

Ms Klaveness said: “When we give away power … and money and influence to nations and hosts without knowing that FIFA has had enough objectivity and arm’s length distance and no conflict of interest in it, then we have a problem. So then the question needs to be asked.”

She hopes for transparency on Mr Infantino’s dealings with the Saudis while being focused on the process rather than the country itself.

She asked: “How have you [Mr Infantino] worked to keep an objectivity to business and knowing the fact that this is a lot of power? How has the power been separated between different bodies and persons so that you don’t get conflicts of interest?”

FIFA has not explained why it only allowed countries in Asia and Oceania to bid for 2034 when North and Central American nations should have been permitted under the rotation system in the statutes.

Only weeks were given to form a bid that was too challenging for a democratic nation like Australia, which needs government agreements.

FIFA has sought to portray the selection of the 2030 and 2034 World Cup hosts as still being in play, with assessments of the countries to be conducted.

But Mr Infantino’s own comments on Instagram last week were taken as confirmation when he said the 2030 and 2034 tournaments were “set to be hosted” by the announced nations without any caveats mentioning an ongoing process.

A key part of that process should be human rights assessments, which FIFA has not fully committed to being published when pressed by Sky News.

Under FIFA regulations, a plan to mitigate risks should be presented to address anti-LGBTQ+ laws and the lack of equal rights for women.

But with the hosts already lined up, the importance of the bidding evaluations – a key reform from the start of the Infantino presidency – has been reduced.

Ms Klaveness said: “We don’t know if that’s a breach of a code of conduct or if there are good reasons to do so.”

Read more:
FIFA has ‘not changed’ and decisions still lack transparency

What about the Women’s World Cup?

FIFA has not explained why the 2027 Women’s World Cup host will not be selected until next year – with four rivals.

“Everyone should be very concerned with those symbolic signals you’re sending because we are in desperate need to have a balance that the women’s side is lifted at least at the same acknowledgement level as the men’s side,” Ms Klaveness said.

“And when you have those awards for three [men’s] World Cups and the next is not awarded for women, it might be a danger that people will view this as not taken as seriously.”

FIFA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Zurich-based governing body has recently insisted it operates with the “highest ethical and governance standards” while pointing to the US Department of Justice being willing to award it compensation following past bribery scandals.

In 2018, Mr Infantino did oversee an unprecedented open vote for the 2026 World Cup with the combined United States-Canada-Mexico plan beating Morocco and the votes of the FIFA Congress made public.

But it was the ruling council of 37 members that decided to combine the interest from Spain, Portugal, Morocco, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay to create a vast 2030 World Cup – without putting the plan to the congress of every football nation.

The father of Liverpool footballer Luis Diaz has been freed by his captors in Colombia – almost two weeks after being kidnapped.

Luis Manuel Diaz was released by guerrillas from the National Liberation Army (ELN), according to the Colombian FA.

Local TV channels showed him at an airstrip after landing in a helicopter – and images of his family members crying with happiness.

Diaz’s parents were abducted by armed men on motorcycles at a petrol station in the town of Barrancas, near Colombia’s border with Venezuela on 28 October.

The 26-year-old footballer’s mother, Cilenis Marulanda, was rescued within hours by police after roadblocks were set up.

Special forces were deployed to search for Mr Diaz – with air and land patrols trawling a mountain range that straddles both Colombia and Venezuela.

Officials said they could not rule out the possibility that he had been smuggled over the border – meaning he would have been out of reach of Colombian police.

A reward of $48,000 (£39,000) had been offered for information leading police to the hostage.

The Liverpool winger had pleaded with his father’s captors to release him – and said he and his brothers were in a “desperate” situation.

The ELN had given hope to the footballer, his family and those connected to Liverpool FC after they said the kidnapping was a mistake and had ordered his release.

On Sunday, the guerrilla group said these plans had been stifled by military deployments in the north of Colombia, and it could not guarantee his safety in those conditions.

A day later, the Colombian military said that it was shifting its positions to facilitate a release.

Kidnapping ‘should never have happened’

Those negotiating peace talks with the ELN celebrated Mr Diaz’s freedom – but made it clear the kidnapping “should never have happened”.

All people being held by the ELN must be liberated, the statement added, though it did not give a figure for the remaining hostages.

The Colombian FA thanked the government, the military, authorities and everyone involved in securing Mr Diaz’s release, adding: “Behind a ball, the dreams and illusions of boys and girls, young people, women, men and adult soccer players, their loved ones and an entire country roll.

“Football is passion in peace. Let no one ever think of attacking that reality again.”

Colombian President Gustavo Petro added: “Long live freedom and peace.”

Diaz came off the bench to save Liverpool from a shock defeat at Luton on Sunday, claiming a stoppage-time equaliser to snatch a 1-1 draw.

He lifted his shirt in celebration to reveal a message on a white T-shirt that read “libertad para papa” or “freedom for my father”.

The kidnapping of Diaz’s father disrupted the Colombian government’s peace talks with the ELN, which restarted last year in hopes of ending a 60-year conflict that has killed at least 450,000 people.

Comments by Suella Braverman show the UK government is “at sea and ignorant” on Irish affairs and the Middle East, Sinn Fein’s president has said.

Mary Lou McDonald has accused the Tories of “gratuitous insult” after the home secretary said pro-Palestinian “hate marches” were of the type “we are more used to seeing in Northern Ireland”.

The woman hoping to be the next Taoiseach – Ireland’s prime minister – was speaking exclusively to Sky News on the eve of her party’s annual conference.

Ms McDonald said: “I think it demonstrates the extent to which the Tory government, and she perhaps in particular, are at sea and ignorant of Irish affairs and also … the distance between the Tory government and such a huge number of people in England and right across Britain.

“They were extraordinary, they were to say the least unhelpful, in as much as in the end they are a distraction from a situation that could not be more serious.

“I think it would suit her better and the government better to join with others and call for a ceasefire.

“It strikes me that the government in London is really at this stage a bit of a past master at gratuitous insult.

“If the idea is simply to create division or arouse controversy, well then she has achieved those objectives.”

Ms McDonald said Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer was “wrong on both questions” of a ceasefire in the Middle East and the timing of a referendum on Irish unity.

Drawing comparisons between Ireland and Palestine, Ms McDonald said the Irish people had a deep and widespread affiliation with Palestinians for historical and contemporary reasons.

She said: “Ireland is non-aligned and militarily neutral, but we are not neutral when it comes to the issue of international law and we’re not neutral when it comes to the right of Palestinian people to self-determination.

“We’re not neutral when we say that Israel must be held to account for decades, generations of human rights violations.

“We also recognise that to get to a place of peace and settlement, you do have to have an inclusive process. We’ve learned that in Ireland, haven’t we?

“That’s the only thing that works.”

The political future of British Home Secretary Suella Braverman hangs in the balance as she faces anger within her own Conservative Party after making unauthorised comments about the country’s pro-Palestine demonstrations, which she called “hate marches” and for criticising the police.

In an opinion piece published in The Times on Thursday, Braverman said that the police “play favourites” and have taken a soft stance towards rallies in support of Gaza, which she described as “pro-Palestinian mobs”.

“The content was not agreed with Number 10,” a spokesperson for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told reporters, referring to the prime minister’s Downing Street office. The ministerial code is clear that any ministerial media interventions need approval from No 10.

Sunak is under pressure to sack Braverman, but his spokesperson Max Blain also said the prime minister still had full confidence in her.

Sunak’s deputy held meetings this week to discuss plans for changes to his cabinet, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday, adding that a reshuffle could come as soon as next week.

Braverman is seen as a potential future leader of the governing Conservative Party, and has consistently staked out far-right positions on issues such as multiculturalism and immigration.

The opposition Labour Party has drawn on such incidents to paint a picture of a weak and divided government, with Yvette Cooper, the shadow home secretary, calling Braverman “out of control” and Labour leader Keir Starmer saying that Sunak is too weak to challenge her.

Sunak “must know that this isn’t the way that a home secretary should behave,” said Starmer. “He must know in himself that the role of responsible government is to reduce tension and to support police in the difficult decisions they have to make.”

In an open letter to Sunak, Labour’s national campaign coordinator Pat McFadden noted that “no previous Home Secretary has ever launched such an attack on the police”.

The Prime Minister’s spokesperson has confirmed that the Home Secretary’s article was not cleared by No 10.

Article 8.2 of the Ministerial code says all such interventions have to be cleared.

Given it wasn’t cleared, what will he do now? My letter to the PM is below. pic.twitter.com/qNff6lOfZG

— Pat McFadden (@patmcfaddenmp) November 9, 2023

There was no further update from Sunak’s office about what action it would take, if any, against Braverman, according to British media reports.

Braverman’s stance towards pro-Palestinian political activity has previously drawn criticism, including comments suggesting that waving a Palestinian flag could be a criminal offence.

“I do not believe that these marches are merely a cry for help for Gaza,” Braverman wrote in The Times. “They are an assertion of primacy by certain groups – particularly Islamists – of the kind we are more used to seeing in Northern Ireland.”

Conservative members have said that her comments are divisive and undermine the police.

Critics have said Braverman is trying to position herself for a party leadership contest that could come if the Conservatives lose power in an election that is expected next year. Opinion polls have for months put the party 15 to 20 points behind Labour.

London has witnessed massive weekend demonstrations over the past month, with tens of thousands of people taking to the streets to denounce Israel’s relentless bombing campaign in the Gaza Strip and demand the United Kingdom government call for a ceasefire.

A large rally in support of Palestine is expected to take place on Saturday, coinciding with Armistice weekend, an annual remembrance of World War I.

Police Commissioner Mark Rowley has said there were insufficient grounds to ban a pro-Palestine march on Armistice Day.

“At a time when we should be seeking to unite communities – the Home Secretary is dividing them. Language matters – and the Home Sec’s comments are inaccurate, inflammatory and irresponsible,” London Mayor Said Khan posted on X.

Since the war between Israel and Hamas broke out on October 7 – following an attack on Israel by the Palestinian group that Israeli authorities say killed more than 1,400 people – Jewish, Muslim, and Arab communities around the world have expressed fear that tensions could spill over into their own communities.

At least 10,812 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza since.

It is not the first time the right-wing minister has been the subject of controversy. Braverman recently called homelessness a “lifestyle choice” and previously drew censure from Pakistan’s foreign minister after saying that Pakistani men “hold cultural values at odds with British values” and worked in abuse rings that target “vulnerable white English girls”.

She was in Rwanda this year to discuss an agreement in which the UK will relocate undocumented refugees and migrants there as she doubles down on a plan that has been mired in legal challenges and controversy, and was faced scathing criticism for describing the arrival of asylum seekers on the UK’s southern coast as an “invasion”.

أزمات مانشستر يونايتد تزداد تعقيدا ليس فقط في الدوري الإنجليزي الممتاز، بل وفي مسابقة دوري الأبطال التي بات الفريق مرشحا لتوديعها مبكرا حيث يتذيل ترتيب المجموعة الأولى بعد الخسارة المفاجئة والصادمة أمام مضيفه كوبنهاغن الدنماركي 3 – 4، رغم أنه لا يزال يملك الأمل حسابيا لبلوغ دور الـ16.

وخرج يونايتد بالفعل من كأس الرابطة الإنجليزية التي كان يحمل لقبها، بينما يحتل المركز الثامن في جدول الدوري الإنجليزي الممتاز، وزاد موقفه صعوبة في دوري أبطال أوروبا قبل آخر جولتين من دور المجموعات، وهو الأمر الذي بات يقلق جماهيره على الفريق في ظل التخبط الإداري لملاكه الأميركان (عائلة غليزر) وانعدام الرؤية للمستقبل.

وتذيّل يونايتد ترتيب المجموعة الأولى بثلاث نقاط، بفارق نقطة عن كل من كوبنهاغن وغلاطة سراي التركي، فيما ضمن بايرن ميونيخ الألماني تأهله متصدراً المجموعة بالعلامة الكاملة.

وقدم يونايتد أفضل 40 دقيقة له منذ بداية الموسم الحالي، وتقدّم بهدفين بعد نصف ساعة بثنائية الشاب الدنماركي راسموس هويلوند، القادم مقابل 78 مليون دولار من أتالانتا الإيطالي، في شباك فريقه السابق. لكن بطاقة حمراء لمهاجم يونايتد الدولي ماركوس راشفورد في الدقيقة 42 بعد مراجعة حكم الفيديو المساعد (في إيه آر) قلبت الموازين.

استغلّ كوبنهاغن 13 دقيقة من الوقت المحتسب البدل من ضائع، لينهي الشوط الأول متعادلاً بهدفي النرويجي محمد اليونسي، والبرتغالي ديوغو غونزالفيش من ركلة جزاء.

واستعاد البرتغالي برونو فرنانديز تقدم يونايتد من نقطة الجزاء في الدقيقة 68، لكن بطل الدنمارك سجّل مرتين في آخر عشر دقائق، عبر لوكاس ليراغر والبديل السويدي اليافع من أصول سورية روني بردغجي (17 عاماً)، ليحقق فريق العاصمة أول فوز له في دوري الأبطال منذ 2016.

ورغم الضغوط التي باتت تهدد مستقبله مع الفريق، فإن تن هاغ يرى أن يونايتد يسير في الاتجاه الصحيح لتصحيح بدايته الصعبة، وأن الفريق دفع ثمن أخطاء التحكيم، مشككا في صحة أول هدفين لكوبنهاغن وقرار طرد راشفورد.

يعتقد مدرب أياكس أمستردام السابق أن هدف اليونسي جاء من تسلل، وقرار احتساب ركلة جزاء إثر لمسة يد من هاري ماغواير كان ظالماً. وأوضح «لعبنا بشكل جيّد حتى البطاقة الحمراء. الطرد غيّر كل شيء. ثم تلقينا هدفين غير صحيحين».

وطرد راشفورد بعد دهسه على كاحل إلياس جليرت في أثناء محاولته تأمين الكرة، وهو ما أغضب تن هاغ الذي وصف القرار بأنه كان «قرارا قاسيا». وأوضح: «كان ينافس على الكرة. بعد نهاية المراجعة توجه (الحكم) إلى الشاشة. أعتقد أن الحكم لم يكن متأكدا».

ولم يكن تن هاغ الوحيد الذي تبنى هذا الموقف، فقد انتقد أوين هارغريفز لاعب يونايتد السابق والمحلل الرياضي لـشبكة تي. إن. تي سبورتس قرار الطرد قائلا: «كان ماركوس فقط يحاول وضع ساقه أمام الكرة. لم يكن حتى ينظر إلى منافسه… لم تكن (محاولته) تشكل خطورة». وقال بول سكولز لاعب يونايتد السابق أيضا: «هذا حادث. كان (راشفورد) يحاول وضع قدمه وحماية الكرة».

وكانت هذه أول هزيمة ليونايتد في دوري الأبطال يهدر فيها تقدمه بهدفين أو أكثر، وكانت أيضا أول خسارة للفريق في جميع المنافسات بعد تقدمه بهدفين منذ سبتمبر (أيلول) 2014 عندما خسر 5 – 3 أمام ليستر سيتي. وبهذه الهزيمة يستمر تعثر يونايتد في الموسم الحالي الذي يشهد أسوأ بداية موسم في مسيرة النادي منذ 1962.

وأشار تن هاغ إلى أن طرد راشفورد لم يكن القرار الوحيد الذي جاء في غير صالح فريقه خلال المباراة، وقال: «هذا هو الوضع. لكن الموسم لا يزال طويلا وسيتحول لصالحنا في مرحلة ما… نشعر بخيبة أمل كبيرة لأننا قاتلنا بكل جدية وقدمنا أداء جيدا ولم نحصل حتى على نقطة وحيدة».

وتابع المدرب الذي خسر فريقه ثلاث مباريات من أصل أربع حتى الآن، ويتعيّن عليه الحلول على غلاطة سراي بعد ثلاثة أسابيع واستقبال بايرن ميونيخ في 12 ديسمبر (كانون الأول): «الظلم التحكيمي لم يكن فقط الليلة. عانينا هذا الموسم كثيرا من عدّة قرارات ضدنا، لكن أنا متأكد أن الأمور ستتبدّل. الموسم طويل وفي مرحلة ما ستتغيّر الأمور لمصلحتنا».

وأنفق يونايتد أكثر من 400 مليون جنيه إسترليني (497 مليون دولار) في فترات الانتقالات الثلاث الماضية منذ قدوم تن هاغ، فجلب أمثال البرازيلي أنتوني، والدولي ميسون ماونت، مع القليل من النجاحات الواضحة، ما زاد من حدة الضغوط على المدير الفني الذي خسر 9 مرات في 17 مباراة هذا الموسم.

رغم ذلك، يرى إيجابيات يمكن استخراجها من أداء الفريق قبل طرد راشفورد الذي بدا أنه لم يتعمّد الدوس على كاحل إلياس جيلير في الكرة المشتركة بينهما، إذ كان يحاول حماية كرته.

وقال تن هاغ: «رأيت كثيرا من الإيجابيات في هذه المباراة، لكن في النهاية فقدنا بعض التركيز. حتى مع 10 (لاعبين) كنا نسيطر على المباراة. لقد خاب أملهم (اللاعبون) بالطبع. قاتلنا بقوّة، لعبنا جيداً لكننا لم نحرز حتى نقطة واحدة».

من جهته، أعرب راسموس هويلوند عن ثقته في أن «كل لاعب في غرفة تبديل الملابس» يدعم المدرب تن هاغ. وأشار المهاجم البالغ من العمر 20 عاما إلى أن المدير الفني الهولندي لا يدخر جهدا مع اللاعبين ويحاول تصحيح المسار لكن النتائج لا تأتي بجانبنا، وأضاف: «إنه مدرب جيد حقاً، يهتم بكل التفاصيل ويساعدني كثيراً، ويمنحني كثيرا من الثقة، أعتقد أن كل لاعبي الفريق يدعمونه. أتمنى أن تكون مسألة وقت فقط ليعود الفريق لطريق الانتصارات».

ويشعر أنصار يونايتد بقلق شديد على فريقهم، خاصة مع تراجع عائلة غليزر الأميركية (المالكة) عن نيتها في بيع النادي لرجل الأعمال والمصرفي القطري الشيخ جاسم بن حمد آل ثاني، الذي عرض 5 مليارات جنيه إسترليني مع وعد بسداد جميع الديون (700 مليون إسترليني) وضخ ميزانية كبيرة لتدعيم فريق الكرة.

وترى رابطة مشجعي يونايتد أن عائلة غليزر تتصرّف وفقا لمصالحها الخاصة ولا تهتم بالنادي أو بالمشجعين. وبعد نحو عام من فتح عائلة غليزر الباب أمام العروض المتقدمة لشراء النادي أو الاستثمار به، يبدو أنّ الملياردير البريطاني جيم راتكليف الأقرب لشراء 25 في المائة من الأسهم مقابل 1.6 مليار دولار أميركي. لكن بقاء عائلة غليزر مسيطرة على النادي ما زال هو المشكلة الكبيرة في رأي مشجعي «الشياطين الحمر»، الذين كانوا يمنون النفس بخروج المالكين الأميركيين غير المحبوبين.

وبحسب المعطيات المتوافرة، فإنّ راتكليف، مؤسس شركة إينيوس العملاقة للبتروكيماويات، ومالك نادي نيس الفرنسي، سيسعى إلى تولي إدارة عمليات كرة القدم في النادي مقابل استثماره الكبير، لكن روابط المشجعين تشك في أن عائلة غليزر ستمنح الرجل الذي يملك ربع الأسهم فرصة للسيطرة على إدارة الكرة.

وبعد مرور 11 شهراً من العملية البطيئة والمرهقة لبيع النادي، يخشى مشجعو يونايتد من أن تحصل عائلة غليزر على أموال راتكليف لأجل زيادة حساباتهم الخاصة. وقالت رابطة المشجعين: «إذا كانت التقارير صحيحة فيما يتعلق بحصول راتكليف على حصة 25 في المائة في نادينا، فهناك عدد من الأسئلة حول الصفقة التي تحتاج إلى توضيح قبل أن يتمكن المشجعون من إصدار أي حكم بشأن مزاياها، وأبرزها الضمانات باستثمارات جديدة في النادي وفريق الكرة».